Kate, Who Tamed the Wind

by Liz Garton Scanlon, Lee White (Illustrator)

Overview

Award-winning author Liz Garton Scanlon presents a young, rhythmic read-aloud about a girl who solves a windy problem with an environmentally sound solution: planting trees.

A wild wind blows on the tippy-top of a steep hill, turning everything upside down for the man who lives there. Luckily, Kate comes up with a plan to tame the wind. With an old wheelbarrow full of young trees, she journeys up the steep hill to add a little green to the man's life, and to protect the house from the howling wind. From award-winning author Liz Garton Scanlon and whimsical illustrator Lee White comes a delightfully simple, lyrical story about the important role trees play in our lives, and caring for the world in which we live.

Praise for Bob, Not Bob by Liz Garton Scanlon:
"This is read-aloud gold!" --Publishers Weekly, Starred

Praise for All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon:
"A sumptuous and openhearted poem . . . (that) expresses the philosophy early readers most need to hear: there's humanity everywhere." --The New York Times

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101934814
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	02/06/2018
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	52 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Liz Garton Scanlon is the author of many children's picture books, including the Caldecott Honor Book All the World and Happy Birthday, Bunny, which Publishers Weekly called "as memorable and heartfelt as a birthday book gets." Liz lives in breezy, beautiful Austin, Texas, with her husband and her two daughters, who all love flying kites. Follow Liz on Twitter at @LGartonScanlon and visit her at lizgartonscanlon.com.

Lee White is the illustrator of many books for children, including I Lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosín, winner of the Pura Belpré Award; The Lost Track of Time by Paige Britt; Arctic White by Danna Smith; and, most recently, Emma and the Whale by Julie Case. He lives with his wife and son in Portland, Oregon, where the wind makes his umbrella useless when it rains. Follow Lee on Twitter at @Art_Lee_White or visit him at leewhiteillustration.com.

Editorial Reviews

11/20/2017
When a man’s cry of frustration reaches a girl named Kate, playing hopscotch in the town far below, she knows what to do. The man’s house is buffeted by endless gusts of wind, and Kate understands that planting trees will help. She brings saplings up to his house, where she plants and waters them. The story is truthful about the long wait for results; as the pages turn and the trees grow, Kate becomes a teenager, and the man’s beard goes silver. Scanlon’s story combines timely concern for the environment, the recognition that children can be heroes, and quirky, rhythmic alliteration: “The trees grew till the leaves fluttered and the shutters stilled and the boards bounced back.” The New England setting gives White familiar cultural referents to work with: white clapboard house, porch, rocking chair, and the red wagon Kate uses to trundle the trees up the hill. The excitement of this reassuring readaloud comes from the motion of the wind and the play of words. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Paul Rodeen, Rodeen Literary Management. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"The story and illustrations strike just the right notes of lightheartedness, determination, and education—on Earth-friendly materials to boot."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"The lyrical text begs to be read aloud and is perfect for Arbor Day or Earth Day celebrations."—School Library Journal, starred review

From the Publisher

★ 12/01/2017
K-Gr 3—Young Kate helps tame the wind that disrupts the life of a man living atop a steep hill by planting a stand of aspen trees. Delightful cumulative text describes the ever-present wind that bangs shutters, bends boards, spills tea, and even drives the birds away. The rhythm of the lengthening sentences as the number of blown items builds seems to mirror the growing intensity of the wind's force. Finally, the man cries, "What to do?" His cry is heard by little Kate playing at the foot of the hill. Doodling on the sidewalk, she arrives at a solution: trees. Kate loads her wagon with saplings, climbs the hill, and she and the man plant the trees together. As the trees grow along with the girl, they provide some protection from the blowing wind, transforming the man's house at the "tip-top of the green hill" from a "creeky" one to a place where the "dust [now dies] down, the tea steep[s], and the birds peep[s]." The illustrations, executed in watercolor and ink and digitally rendered, depict the wind in swirls of white across the pages. Clothing, shutters, curtains, and even food and kitchen utensils fly in the air. Kate, frowning with hands on hips, appears resourceful and determined. An informative author's note provides information about the importance of trees in our ecosystem as well as websites for ideas about how to protect them. VERDICT The lyrical text begs to be read aloud and is perfect for Arbor Day or Earth Day celebrations. A first purchase for ecology units as well as collections featuring bold girls.—Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Cambridge, MA

School Library Journal

★ 2017-10-28
A young girl plants saplings around a house on a windy hill in this picture book.A white man with a brown beard lives in a pleasant-looking house at the top of a hill, but then the wind begins blowing: the shutters bang, the tea spills, and the boards bend. Finally he cries out, "What to do?" Kate, a brown-haired girl with light-brown skin who lives in the town below, hears his cry and comes up with a solution. Carrying the man's hat, which she has caught as it blew away, and pulling a wagon of saplings, she visits the man, and together they plant the saplings. Kate continues to visit (illustrations show her growing up and his beard graying), while the trees mature into a windbreak. Scanlon's alliterative text builds in a clever, repetitive fashion that begs to be read aloud. White's charming and well-conceived mixed-media illustrations, rendered in a subtle color palette, have the speckled, earthy look of recycled paper (which is Forest Stewardship Council-certified, with some recycled content). The final page, "More About Marvelous Trees," explains the role of and need for trees and suggests accessible ways to help (conserve paper, recycle) and also gives websites for tree-advocacy organizations.The story and illustrations strike just the right notes of lightheartedness, determination, and education—on Earth-friendly materials to boot. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews